Faith through the fight: Remembering Gary Pratt as a legendary Hilton Head musician, father
Last Sunday afternoon, Gary Pratt, a legendary local musician who played in some of the most well-known bands in the Hilton Head area and helped lead worship at Hilton Head Island Community Church, died after an 18-month long battle with ALS, a fatal neurodegenerative disease.
Locals would recognize Gary from his performances at the Tiki Hut on Sunday afternoons, Captain Woody’s on Thursday nights, Scott’s Fish Market, Calhoun’s or Big Bamboo. He played in local bands like JoJo Squirrel & The Home Pickles and Low Country Boil. He was a well-rounded, multi-instrumentalist — he played the bass, guitar and keyboard — with a vocal range that “didn’t know space and time,” according to the musicians that played with him throughout the years.
Off stage, Gary was a dedicated and loving father to his two daughters, Abbey, 16, and Mallory, 13, and husband to his wife, Connie. He was the youngest of eight siblings.
Mike Kavanaugh, who has played music on Hilton Head Island for 40 years and played with Gary for more than 20 of them, described Gary as a “musician’s musician,” or someone other musicians hold in the highest regard.
“For twenty years we played together on stage to audiences of all sizes. We played to senators, we played to millionaires, we played at your next-door-neighbor’s oysters roast or graduation or rehearsal dinners. I don’t know for sure but if I had to guess, he played the worst gigs I’ve ever done and the best,” Kavanaugh said.
Early in their friendship, they bonded over a shared love of harmonies from bands like the Beatles and the legendary Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, he said. Even though Gary was 10 years younger, Kavanaugh said he could always hold his own talking about the great bands of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Jevon Daly, a long-time band mate and friend, described Gary as a gentle and level-headed man, one that you looked to and said, “this is a man right here. If you want to be a man, try to hang with this guy.”
He and Gary played together in the local bluegrass band Low Country Boil and JoJo Squirrel and the Home Pickles, where he witnessed Gary’s special touch with instruments.
From the stage to the church pews
Cynthia Cullen, the creative director and a worship leader at Hilton Head Island Community Church, met Gary around 2012 at a music event hosted by her church. Soon after, the Pratt family started attending the church, and not long after that, Gary started playing music with Cullen on Sunday mornings.
Over the years, their musical companionship grew so strong that they barely needed to rehearse, Cullen said. One specific song captured their mutual faith about life to come after life on earth. Cullen said she will never be able to sing that song again without Gary by her side.
The most notable thing about Gary was not his musical talents, but his heart, Cullen said.
Gary was kind, compassionate, wise and selfless, she said. He was a man of few, but important, words. He had a subtle humor — like switching his microphone stand with hers’ during rehearsal when he was a foot taller than her — and was a mentor to younger musicians, including her son.
Faith through the fight
Connie and Gary were born on the same day, just two hours apart, and met when they were 32 years old at the Big Bamboo on Hilton Head. Three years later, they were married, and eventually they became parents to their two daughters, Abbey and Mallory.
“There’s not one person you could find who could say a bad thing about him,” Connie said, “He was just a wonderful human.”
Gary was diagnosed with ALS on April 12, 2023. Months before, in November, Gary spent days trying to secure Taylor Swift concert tickets for him and his daughter, Abbey, for April 13. Without telling his family, he bought two extra tickets so that all four of them could go together.
Despite the life-changing news they received that day in April, he insisted that they still go to the concert the next day, which would be an experience of a lifetime for his daughters, Connie said.
Both Abbey and Mallory had a special bond with their father through a shared love of music, Connie said. Abbey is a student worship leader for their church youth group and will sing for the first time in the main service this Sunday. Although he will not physically be on stage with her, Connie said, her father will be watching over her.
Gary relied heavily on his faith throughout the entirety of his fight, Connie said.
“Gary fought for every day he could possibly have with us,” Connie said, adding that he focused hard on each task at hand through the 18-month fight. Connie said he quickly mastered his eye gaze machine, a device that allows for communication with eye movements.
“Tell everyone I’ve ever called a friend that I love ‘em and thanks for the memories,” Gary wrote in a letter using the machine.
Gary was surrounded by family when he passed away on the afternoon of Oct. 27.
There will be a celebration of life held on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 11:00 a.m. at Hilton Head Island Community Church, with a lunch in the church community center immediately after. Music and tributes will be hosted at the Big Bamboo after lunch, the cafe where Connie and Gary first met.
This story was originally published November 4, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
